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Personal Background

Jan Hofkens graduated with a licentiate in law in 1992 from the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL). In 1993, he received a further bachelor’s in tax sciences at the Brussels Tax College (EHSAL).

From 1993 to 2002 he was an attorney with Stibbe in Brussels, where, from 2001, he was one of the partners heading up the employment law department.

On 1 January 2003 he joined Lydian, were he represents both companies and executives in employment counseling and transactions. He has +17 years experience in the full range of employment law, with a special focus on company restructurings (mass lay-offs including collective bargaining), negotiation of severance packages for senior executives and drafting of HR policies.

Key experience includes acting for both employers and senior executives in negotiating severance arrangements, including tax structuring of termination indemnities. He has, moreover, a large employment tribunal caseload.

He is often involved in cases of employee fraud, privacy issues related to internal investigations, whistle blowing and dismissal for cause. For this reason, he is also a Registered Forensic Auditor at the Belgian Institute for Forensic Auditors (IFA), and he lectures at the Master course in Forensic Auditing at the University Management School of Antwerp (UAMS). His expertise has also merited him an entry in Chambers, Legal 500, PLC Which Lawyer? and Europea Legal Experts.

Jan was managing partner of Lydian from 1 january 2010 until 31 December 2012.

Firm Background

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Lydian is a leading full-service, independent Belgian law firm. Counting 70 lawyers to date, Lydian has a very strong reputation in capital markets, finance, energy, pensions, insurance, real estate and PPP related transactions. The transactional work is backed by the specialist expertise of its tax department, corporate department, commercial department and the employment, pensions and benefits department.

Lydian stands for a strong and highly professional environment with high level legal services.

The employment, pensions and benefits department currently counts 15 lawyers. This makes the department one of the largest employment law teams within a Belgian full-service law firm.

Lawyers from the department are experts in the following fields: individual employment law, collective employment law, pensions & benefits, cross-border employment and company restructuring. “We have a specific expertise in employee fraud cases,” said Jan Hofkens a Registered Forensic Auditor (at the Institute for Forensic Auditors IFA), and recognised expert in cases of employee fraud. He is often involved in internal fraud investigations and advises and assists employers on related issues of privacy law, whistle blowing and dismissal for cause.

Although the firm mainly acts for employers, they also assist top executives in the negotiation of their exit package and the related tax structuring. Jan Hofkens is particularly well regarded for his prowess on behalf of top executives.

He continued: “Our approach is all about being committed, available, responsive and proactive. We understand the opportunities and demands of our client’s business, and will put its interests to the fore. Our legal culture, which is firmly grounded on London magic circle and premium Employment developments in Belgium Belgian law firms, makes us ideally placed to provide the highest quality services to an international standard and practice law with the sophistication of a big firm, but with the close client-lawyer contact more typical for a smaller firm. Communication with our clients is a key factor for us.”

Clients include a large number of high profile listed and non-listed Belgian and non-Belgian clients, who come to Lydian for their expertise and the quality of their work. They frequently handle referral cases from prestigious law firms outside Belgium. Based on the Anglo-Saxon model, the firm stands out through the efficiency of its service, the pragmatic approach of their lawyers and their true commitment to the task at hand.

Examples of work recently undertaken by the firm include; acting for one of Belgium’s largest tour operators in a restructuring case resulting from the outsourcing of its finance department, assisting in the negotiations of a social plan for the employees involved; and assisting the Belgian chemical industry in setting-up an industry-wide pension plan for about 5,000 companies. Assistance includes drafting the pension plan; drafting several contracts with service providers; organising the financial and data streams; and so on.